In fact I rarely go to the Google home page. If I want to search for something I type the search into the address bar no matter what web page I am on and the answer comes right up. Type in Speed Test and it will take you to a page to test you Internet connection speed. If I want to see where I town is I type it into the address bar and Google will present me with a list of searches relating to that town and also a small map. Click on the map and it opens up a full page Google map. I have been using Chrome since it came out in 2008 and it puts all other browsers to shame.

Even easier for most places just type it in the search bar and let GOOGLE search it... Many places they will display a mini-map in results. others you click on the corporate link and it has the map, No need to specify "Maps" as your search engine.

Logged

Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your businessMy Home is where I park it.

Tom and John,The article goes a little beyond just using the address bar for search and then clicking to drill down to what you really want. Yeah, it's kinda geeky, but there's a smidgen of value in it, especially for anyone needing to quickly bring up a map while on the move.

I took the article and ran with it a bit. Heres how you can set it up to immediately display a driving directions map from your current location to whatever destination you enter.Start by following the article's instructions to create a new search engine. I named it "Google Directions from here". Then:1. Set the "keyword". I used "mapto".2. Use this as the "URL with %s in place of query"https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=&destination=%s&travelmode=driving3. Save

Now if you type "mapto Grand Canyon" into the address bar a full map and driving directions to Grand Canyon from your current location pops up without any more clicks.

Of course, you could also use the voice command: "OK Google, show me driving directions to Grand Canyon" but this is another, quieter option.